Iran is not believed to have the capability or intent to hit the UK with its missiles, a cabinet minister has said, after Tehran aimed two at the UK-US airbase on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
One missile failed to reach the island, while another was shot down by a US warship, according to reports. It was the longest-range attack yet by Iran since the country was attacked by the US and Israel.
Asked about Israeli warnings that the UK and other parts of Europe could be targeted by Iranian missiles, Steve Reed, the communities secretary, told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “There is no specific assessment that the Iranians are targeting the UK or [that they] even could if they wanted to.”
On why Israel had issued such a warning, he said: “You would need to speak to the Israelis.” Reed added: “Whatever people might say, the UK is not going to be dragged into this war, but we will take appropriate collective defensive action to keep our nationals and our interests safe.
“I’m not aware of any assessment at all that they are even trying to target Europe, let alone that they could if they tried. But even if they did, we have the necessary military capability to defend this country.”
Asked about the attack on Diego Garcia, part of the Chagos Islands archipelago, more than 2,000 miles (3,200km) from Iran, Reed said one missile was intercepted and the other “fell short”, refusing to say how close to the base it had travelled.
Keir Starmer’s government refused US requests to use UK airbases for the initial attack on Iran in late February, in part because ministers were warned it was likely to be in breach of international law.
It has, however, since allowed the use of British bases for strikes on Iranian sites targeting British allies and interests in Gulf states. On Saturday, this scope was expanded to allow attacks on missile launchers that are targeting commercial ships in the strait of Hormuz.
Reed said the UK was seeking de-escalation and would not be pulled further into the conflict. “If you take the decision, as any British government should, that we will defend British people and British assets across the region, and the Iranians start targeting different assets, then of course, we have to respond to that and defend them as well. That doesn’t take away one iota from our interest and focus on de-escalation,” he told Sky News.
Reed refused to comment on Donald Trump’s threat that Iran had 48 hours to reopen the strait of Hormuz to shipping or face the destruction of its energy infrastructure.
“The US president is perfectly capable of speaking for himself and defending what it is that he saying. Our position in the UK is absolutely clear as well. We’re not going to be dragged into this war,” Reed told Sky.
Pressed on Trump’s comments, he added: “You need to ask President Trump about the things that President Trump is talking about doing.”
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